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By the year 2000, syphilis was considered all but eradicated in the U.S. But with new data from 2005-1013 released today, the CDC made a shocking announcement: Syphilis is back, with the rate of new cases more than doubling since 2005.

Based on very recent data (reported as of April 28, 2014), the yearly total of primary and secondary syphilis cases more than doubled, from 8,724 to 16,663.

The overall per population rate more than doubled to 5.3 cases per 100,000 people in 2013 from 2.1 cases of syphilis per 100,000 in 2000, when syphilis was at its lowest rate.

A poster from the UK warns of the syphilis comeback there as well. (Photo: wiki media)

And the numbers are pretty clear about gender; it's almost exclusively men getting syphilis. The proportion of new syphilis cases that were in men grew with each year studied, and in 2013, a whopping 91 percent of all new syphilis cases were in men. And almost all of those were among men who identified themselves as gay or bisexual.

There are also huge racial and ethnic differences among those getting syphilis, the CDC said, with black men five times as likely to contract the disease as white men, and black women 13 times more at risk than white women. Secrecy around gay and bisexual sex is a major contributing factor to the spread of the disease, the CDC warned.

Syphilis is not a disease you can take lightly. As some of you may remember from 1960s- 70s and 80s-era public health warnings, syphilis can cause dementia, blindness, and death if undetected and untreated.

Women are particularly at risk because syphilis can be mild or even asymptomatic in women. Another problem is that syphilis's most common early symptoms, such as fever or rash, can be easily confused with other conditions. The sores most people picture as occurring with syphilis can be painless and mistaken for an ingrown hair, says the CDC in its education materials.

Women who don't know they have syphilis and get pregnant can seriously endanger their babies; syphilis can cause low birth weight, prematurity, and even stillbirth.

The takeaway: We need to start screening for syphilis again, at least amongst gay and bisexual men, said CDC officials. Those who have multiple partners should be screened every three to six months.